smarter boxes eliminate waste, cut costs, and reduce wrap rage.a few weeks ago, we kicked around the question of whether online shopping is better or worse for the environment than the traditional method. recently amazon unveiled a new program that demonstrates another of the efficiency advantages available to large retailersthe frustrationfree package on the left is recyclable and comes without excess packaging materials such as hard plastic clamshell casings, plastic bindings, and wire ties. it&rsquos designed to be opened without the use of a box cutter or knife and will protect your product just as well as traditional packaging on the right. products with frustrationfree packaging can frequently be shipped in their own boxes, without an additional shipping box.amazon is working with manufacturers to eliminate those irritating acrylic plastic cases and instead package products in boxes that can take a mailing label directly. the result for amazon will be lower handling and packaging costs. the result for customers will be a more pleasing product experience. and the result for the environment will be less packaging waste. amazon has a demo video of the new packaging at their gallery of wrap rage.innovations like this are made possible by amazon&rsquos scale, which gives the company leverage with suppliers. while browsing amazon&rsquos environmental web site, i was reminded of another advantage of scale less inventory waste. something like 35 of the books in a traditional bookstore end up remaindered &mdash returned to the manufacturer, or recycled, or just thrown away. large, centralized retailers can significantly reduce this waste through better inventory management.a further benefit of online shopping the increasing conversion of realworld goods to digital goods. i&rsquove downloaded quite a few books and albums from amazon. the venerable christian science monitor recently became the first newspaper to convert fully from a print to an online publication. while we&rsquore still a long way off from a true digital economy, it&rsquos possible to at least glimpse the shape of things to come.image credit amazon.com.adam stein is a cofounder of terrapass. he writes on issues related to carbon, climate change, policy, and conservation.bookmark and share 
